A West Shore School Board meeting turned ugly on Thursday night
when members of a service employees' union exploded in reaction to a solicitor's
report about ongoing labor negotiations between workers and the district.

"Let's get real
here. We need answers now," a female union member yelled at the school board,
contributing to a heated melee of audience protests that compelled school board
president Anthony Tezik to abruptly adjourn the meeting.

At first, union members
refused to leave the board room when the meeting ended, prompting threats by district
security personnel to call police. With
protesters outside, security personnel escorted school board members throughout
the parking lot.

District service employees belonging to the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME 13 have been in
negotiations with the district since January and working without a contract
since June 30. The union's expired contract covered full- and part-time support
employees, including bus drivers, custodians, food services and maintenance
employees.

Union members appear
particularly distressed that the district is considering outsourcing their jobs
to save money.

"I know you guys are
thinking of outsourcing all these jobs. I've been here for eight years and I'm
a Red Land alumni," bus driver Paul Boyer Jr. said.

District solicitor
Mike King explained that several factors are making district officials ponder
this possibility, such as mandated contributions to the state's Public School
Employees Retirement System that have doubled since 2011-12 and only will
continue to multiply. Employer-sponsored health care costs also are increasing
rapidly.

"This is just
reality. The school board has to wrestle with these figures. It's nobody's
fault. If anything, it's the fault of a legislature that maintains a retirement
system that isn't sustainable," King said.

King said that if
the district does decide to outsource its service jobs, "all of the contractors
we spoke to said they will offer jobs to our current employees."

The next collective
bargaining session between the district and the union is scheduled for Oct. 1.

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